Indianland

Description

Indianland is the full-length debut album by the American alternative pop/rock band The Walk, released on Talkingtown Records in 1990, distributed by R.E.X. Music and Spectra Distribution. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Paul Krueger.

It’s been a few years since The Walk’s impressive debut, but clearly the musical strengths have not diminished since the tragic loss of bassist Bruce G. Bistline III in an electrical accident. ‘Indianland’ is dedicated to his memory, but there is little here that is living in the past. In that “urgent jangle” style, familiar in alternative circles with the likes of R.E.M., The Choir and The Throes, The Walk has etched out a strong collection of songs that affirm faith in life’s tempestuous seas. [Brian Q. Newcomb, CCM, September 1991]

Welcome to what is probably the most underrated album in Christian alternative music history. The problem is largely that it just wasn’t heard by enough people. This Pennsylvania band comprised one third of the ‘holy trinity’ of Christian jangle pop, rounded out by Virginia’s The Throes and Minnesota’s The Swoon (coincidentally all band names beginning with the definite article). They released their one and only album, not counting their independent demo cassettes, through Talkingtown (also home of metal band Armageddon) and co-released through R.E.X.

Indianland is a real slow-burner of an album. It’s another one of those albums that didn’t grab me the first time I heard it, simply because I just didn’t get it. Being a listener who was primarily into metal/punk/hardcore stylings, their brand of jangly, folk-tinged alternative rock had much more in common with early R.E.M. than with Vengeance Rising or Nobody Special.

Upon repeated listens, however, I came to hear its brilliance. The subtleties in the acoustic-tinged guitar riffs, the vocal harmonies, and the unusual uses of chords all combined with lyrics that hint at faith without ever preaching. This is a record that demands repeated listening. In short, the album is a masterpiece. Yet, I doubt more than 5 or 10 people reading this article have ever heard it. Better remedy that right away! [Loyd Harp, Indie Vision Music, February 26, 2021]

CD tracklist:

01. Cardhouse
02. The Scales
03. Wallflower
04. She Has Feathers
05. Vessels Of Noble Worth
06. Bridge Prophets
07. Walden
08. Ring The Wind Chimes
09. A Fortune
10. Welcome Morning
11. They Sing They Laugh They Dance
12. Indianland

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Talkingtown Records.

An advertisement for The Walk’s Indianland was featured in issue #3 of ACM Journal, published in 1990.